Sweetgreen Is Going Fully Cashless in 2017

What’s in your wallet? In 2017, Sweetgreen will go fully cashless in all 64 of its stores after successfully testing the concept for about a year, cofounders Jonathan Neman and Nicolas Jammet tell Fast Company. Next year, the fast-casual restaurant chain plans on opening another 30 storefronts in the eight markets where it currently does business. Already in New York, signs are popping up in some Sweetgreen shops alerting customers.

Sitting at a couple of wooden tabletops at the Sweetgreen north of Madison Square Park in New York City in early December, Neman and Jammet laid out their rationale for dispensing with cash at a time when plenty of restaurants haven’t quite made the leap.

Some of the reasons are simple: Cash-free stores reduce the likelihood of robbery, keeping employees safe. In addition, the company can avoid the expense of transferring cash in armored cars, they said. Without greenbacks in their registers, Sweetgreen won’t have to worry about bad hygiene with employees handling cash and then touching food. Managers, who are often responsible for counting cash, will have more time to do other things, like mentor and train staff.